Greeley's Chacon to join Oakland's Triple-A team as starter

Greeley native Shawn Chacon took another huge step in his climb back to the major leagues today, signing a minor-league contract with the Oakland Athletics, according to his agent.
Agent Danny Horwits told the Denver Post that Chacon will report to Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate tonight and is tentatively scheduled to start Friday in Sacramento. cq
Mlbtraderumors.com was the first to report the signing.
Chacon has been out of baseball since last summer when he got into a physical altercation with Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade.
Chacon kept throwing over the winter with hopes of getting a second chance. He finally landed this season with the Newark Bears, going 3-3 with a 4.29 ERA. He held his independent-league opponents to a .253 average in seven starts.
The 31-year-old right-hander won 24 games for the Rockies from 2001 to 2005, making the all-star team in 2003. He was traded to the Yankees in 2005, helping them to the playoffs. He spent two productive seasons in Pittsburgh as a reliever, but returned to the rotation as a member of the Astros before he was eventually released.

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.